


What To Expect When You're An Ex-Horde Soldier Expecting

by Bookwormpride



Series: What to Expect [1]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Magical Pregnancy, Morning Sickness, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parenthood, Post-Canon, Pregnancy, Shadow Weaver | Light Spinner's A+ Parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:28:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29223963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookwormpride/pseuds/Bookwormpride
Summary: Adora and Catra are finally ready to have a baby, but along with all the joy and excitement pregnancy brings with it old and new fears
Relationships: Adora & Bow & Catra & Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra)
Series: What to Expect [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2149539
Comments: 47
Kudos: 145





	1. Chapter 1

It started when Glimmer and Bows daughter was born. 

They weren’t the first of Adora and Catras friends to have a child - Scorpia and Perfuma already had a whole pack of them - but something about watching their best friends curled up together, curled _around_ the tiny baby in Glimmers arms, their eyes wet and full of love for a person that had only just come into the world, made something stir in Adoras chest; something warm and aching and a little bit like once-familiar _longing_.

That night as Adora was drifting off to sleep Catras voice broke the silence of their darkened bedroom, uncharacteristically small and uncertain. “Do you think…” She began, hesitating as if still not sure she really wanted to speak. “Do you ever think about doing that? Having a… a kid?”

Adoras heart stuttered, her eyes flying open with any drowsiness gone. She looked to Catra beside her, laid on her back staring up at the ceiling like it had been easier to say, and would be easier to hear Adoras answer, if she wasn’t looking at her. Her hands fidgeted with the edge of the blanket over her chest, claws piercing the fabric with every handful.

Adora rolled onto her side, reaching out to take one of Catras hands and interlacing their fingers. “Yeah, I do,” She admitted. Catra let out an audible breath, finally looking at her. Adora grinned. “I mean, did you see the way Bow looked at Lumina?

Catra brightened. “I know right?!” She cried, flipping over to face Adora. “Like she was the coolest person on Etheria!”

“And then she shit her pants, like, ten minutes later.” Adora giggled. 

The two dissolved into laughter, a mixture of relief at their feelings being mutual and exhaustion from the hours they spent that day by Glimmers side during her labor aiding the hilarity. Eventually though, they sobered and a heavy thoughtfulness fell over them.

Catras mismatched eyes met Adoras across the pillows with a sudden intensity. Into the space between them she whispered, “I want that.”

Adoras breath caught. She imagined a little bundle, not that different from the one she had held that day, but with a dusting of freckles across its cheeks, a wisp of hair atop its head - chestnut brown? Golden blonde? - tiny pointed ears poking out from the blanket.

And she imagined Catra holding them, the same look Bow had on his face on hers.

She whispered back, “me too.”

It took three years.

Three years of talking - with their friends, with their therapist, and most importantly with each other. They had deep discussions and casual chats, over breakfast, while doing household chores, at night in their bed like that very first conversation.

Three years of research, on everything from pregnancy versus adoption, to child rearing, to what baby proofing even entailed when said baby could be half-cat (they were unable to find much, but Perfuma was happy to share how she had wrapped the tips of their little scorpions tails to prevent them stinging anyone by accident).

Three years of uncertainty, of back and forth, of wondering if parenthood was for them, of watching Scorpia and Perfumas and Glimmer and Bows children grow from infants to toddlers to little kids, and considering each successful babysit proof that the idea of them raising a child wasn’t so far fetched. They kept waiting to see if there would be a moment, a time they would finally feel _ready_ , when it would feel “right.”

In the end, it was Scorpia who unwittingly helped them make the decision on a visit to Plumeria.

“It’s beautiful,” Scorpia praised, delicately holding a piece of scribble-covered construction paper in her claws while Alder sat where he had climbed up in her lap. “I love the flower crown on Auntie Catra, and you did such a good job on Swift Winds wings, oh, I think we have a little artist!”

Adora smiled as she watched Scorpia squeeze Alder in a hug, and noticed Catra biting her lip to hold back a laugh.

Finally, Alder squirmed out of his mom's arms and jumped down, snatching the paper back. “I’m gonna add flowers on Swift Wind too!” He declared, running back across the yurt to the pile of crayons on the floor while Scorpia stared after him with a fond expression.

Then she perked up and turned back to Adora and Catra, grabbing her data pad from the short table in front of her with a gasp. “Catra! You _have_ to see this video Entrapta sent me, her and-”

From the kitchen off the main tent, a timer went off. Scorpia perked up. “That’s the cheese dip,” She said, going to set the data pad down.

“I’ll get it,” Adora offered, leaving Catra to move into the spot next to Scorpia.

As she pulled the dip from the oven and set it on the counter she could still faintly hear the conversation being had in the other room, and her attention was caught when she heard Catra slowly ask, “Hey Scorpia, how’d… how did you know you’d be a good mom?”

Adora froze, straining her ears to hear more and wishing, not for the first time, that she had Catras acute hearing.

“I had no idea!” Scorpia laughed cheerfully. “I mean, I always _liked_ kids, remember how I used to help out in the infirmary with the orphans? Gosh, they were so _cute_ , I always wanted to pinch their little cheeks, but you know, pincers so- anyway, and I knew Perfuma would be great with kids, she’s so sweet and smart and-”

Adora could imagine the amused look Catra was giving that made Scorpia abruptly stop herself. Adora took the oven mitt from her hand and threw it on the counter, wandering back to stand in the doorway.

Scorpia looked down at her claws. “I _didn’t_ know,” She said, her voice more subdued with seriousness now. “I was raised by the Horde too, I didn’t exactly have a lot of… nurturing examples, you know how it was - punish first ask questions later, yelling is fine if the persons below you, caring is weakness and you _don’t_ show weakness…”

Scorpia glanced up then, seeing Adora in the doorway and Catra listening to her intently. “I never wanted to make _anyone_ feel like we all felt, but I also _really_ wanted to have some little scorpions,” She gave a small smile. “And Perfuma reminded me… that I can choose. That I’ve _been_ choosing, all along, to be kind and spread love even when everyone thought that was weird, and that I can make that same choice as a parent.”

“That sounds like Perfuma,” Adora chuckled.

“So, that’s it?” Catra questioned. “You just… made a choice? To be a good parent?”

Scorpia laughed again. “Oh no, no no, it’s a choice I _keep_ making,” She said. “Like the other day, oh boy, Lilia did _not_ want to come in for dinner, and she really put up a fight- you know, she is just as strong willed as her mom, usually that’s great but sometimes, man,” Scorpia shook her head with a sigh. “She was crying and screaming, and I thought ‘if I had done something like this when I was a kid’... well, you guys know what would have happened.”

Adora cringed, she could imagine, though no one she knew had ever dared to test it.

Scorpia continued. “But then, I thought about how I don’t want her to be scared, or hurt, or sad. _Ever_. And I had a choice.”

Adora nodded slowly, realizing Catra was doing the same. Finally, she stepped the rest of the way out of the kitchen and sat down next to Catra, taking her hand. Catra squeezed her fingers, looking over her shoulder to meet Adoras gaze.

Scorpia was still smiling at them, clearly happy to have been able to answer their question.

Then her face filled with understanding, and she gaped, bringing her claws to her mouth. “You guys- are you finally-?”

Catra whipped back around, vigorously shaking her head. “No,” She said firmly.

“We still haven’t decided anything,” Adora added.

And that was true for only a handful more hours before, on the trip home from Plumeria, they made a choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Catra and Adora: *still laughing at poop jokes* we are two totally responsible adults who should definitely be parents
> 
> I'm really excited for this one. I don't have an update schedule, I'll be posting chapters as I finish them. I hope you all have as much fun reading this as I'm having writing it


	2. Chapter 2

Adora was regretting the bagel she ate before the meeting.

While all the princesses gathered around the alliance room table that was filled with platers of breakfast foods made by the Brightmoon kitchen to start their day, Catra had pushed the lightly buttered bread at her with a quiet but firm reminder, “the healers said eating helps,” and it had tasted _so_ good.

But now Adora was fighting to keep it from coming back up in front of the dignitaries from Oruta 6.

Luckily, the video-call meeting hadn’t required too much input from her, though the council had been quite eager to speak with the now universe-wide legendary She-Ra. Adora hoped she hadn’t offended them with her hurriedly exchanged pleasantries and insistence that how she banished Horde Prime was actually a very boring story, but she would leave it to Glimmer to smooth over any hurt feelings.

Adora almost made it to the end of the call. Almost, but not quite. Her stomach lurched, and this time she leapt to her feet and took off out the door for the bathroom down the hall.

She heard Catra come in right on her heels as she bent over the toilet, and felt a hand rubbing up and down her back, another hand pulling the ponytail she had started wearing again for exactly this reason away from her face.

Once she finished she let herself fall back on the floor, propped up against the toilet. Knowing they only had minutes before the crowd of concerned friends descended she looked to her wife desperately. “Can you stand outside and tell everyone to go away?”

It had been years since Adora had been part of the Horde - years since the Horde had even existed, and sometimes it all felt like nothing more than a distant memory, like she had finally grown out of and past all the things that had been instilled in her there over the course of her childhood.

And then there were times it felt like she had never truly left, like that place and those things were going to haunt her for the rest of her life.

Adora knew she wasn’t _really_ sick, just like she wasn’t _really_ weak because recently she had been as exhausted as if she had fought an entire battle on her own. But there was a difference between staying in bed with Catra all day because she _wanted_ to - that felt like an act of rebellion against the people that had told her she could never dare to be lazy - and taking two naps in a day because she couldn’t stay awake if she tried. It felt like her body betraying her, it felt _dangerous_ , even though there was no longer any danger or anyone to scold her for sleeping in her own home.

Some conditioning was harder to shake than others, and sometimes it still reared its ugly head.

Still trying to catch her breath and pushing down another wave of nausea, Adora pleaded, knowing Catra would understand better than anyone, “Please, I can’t- I can’t handle anyone seeing me right now. I’m feeling _really_ sensitive and if- if anyone looks at me I think I’ll hide in our closet for a month.”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Catra soothed, rubbing her shoulder. “I promise no one would think less of you for a baby making you barf your guts up. But yeah, I’ll be outside.”

She stood, leaning over to press a kiss to Adoras sweat-damp forehead, before stepping back out and closing the door behind her.

As expected, minutes later Adora heard the other princesses voices, Perfuma asking if there was anything she could do to help, Mermista grumbling that she was so glad she skipped the ‘pregnancy thing,’ Netossa assuring Catra - likely knowing Adora was listening - that the dignitaries hadn’t noticed her leave and not to worry.

As she listened to them begin to shuffle off she heard the telltale sound of Glimmer teleporting, only for the same twinkle to ring out in the hall again almost immediately after.

And then Bows voice came through the door. “It’s just me. Do you mind if I stay here? I won’t come in.”

A lump rose in Adoras throat, her eyes suddenly stinging. She was once again overwhelmed with how grateful she was for her friends, for how they might not have always understood her needs but they respected them nonetheless, how gentle Bows voice was as he asked her permission, how he wanted to stay to support her even if he couldn’t physically be with her.

Or maybe she was just hormonal.

“Yeah,” Adora answered, her voice choked with unshed tears. “Please.”

“I’m here,” He promised.

Adora would have answered, if not for another heave that sent her back over the toilet bowl.

Just as she was sitting back on her haunches, Adora heard Glimmer return. “Adora?” She called from the other side of the door. “Remember when I was pregnant with Lue, and I had that really awful morning sickness?”

Adora did. Glimmer had had it so bad that the healers had been concerned about dehydration and her getting insufficient nutrients. In comparison, Adoras symptoms seemed like a walk in the park.

“I brought some of the ginger tea I used to drink,” Glimmer said. “It’s not, like, a magical cure or anything, but it helped. Do you want Catra to bring it in?”

Adora quickly assessed her state, deciding it didn’t feel like she was going to throw up again in the next few minutes, and reminded that her best friends really were the _best_ , she took a breath, wiped her eyes, and called, “You guys can come in.”

The door creaked open to reveal the only three people she wanted to see.

* * *

Catra had always had nightmares, for as long as she could remember. There were periods in her life where they had been worse, and in recent years they had become less and less frequent, but they never really went away. They never would.

Since her and Adoras trip to Mystacor that had succeeded in a bundle of cells that would soon be a child made from the two of them growing in Adoras belly, the nightmares had come back with a vengeance.

The dream started with a familiar scene. Shadow Weaver, the closest thing to a mother figure she ever had, who had been dead for years but who Catra still couldn’t free her mind of, loomed over her in the shadowy darkness that covered the two of them.

Catra was small, a child, looking up up up to the sorceresses expressionless mask glaring down at her. She was afraid, frozen, cowering in place as she waited for the stinging pain of magic electricity to wash over her and ache in her bones and burn across her skin.

Then the perspective shifted. She stared down at a child, its features hazy and undefined.

She was angry, the kind of anger that had once been as natural to her as breathing - a rage so intense it felt like her body couldn’t contain it, like if she didn’t release it somehow it would consume her from the inside. Her claws were extended at her sides, her hands shaking.

And the child stood there in front of her, defenseless.

They looked afraid.

Catra jolted awake. 

It wasn’t the usual screaming-in-terror, bolting up-right in bed awakening from a nightmare she was used to, rather she simply startled out of sleep, her heart hammered in her chest as she stared across her and Adoras bedroom and a deep sense of dread settled in the pit of her stomach.

Melog lifted their head from where it had been resting over her ankles, watching as Catra checked to make sure Adora was still asleep, and then slipped out of the covers and headed for the door.

She padded down the dark hall and through the small living room, and out onto the backyard deck bathed in the dim light of the moons and stars. A gentle breeze blew through the Whispering Woods, rustling the leaves and cooling Catras feverish skin.

She took a breath, closing her eyes as she focused on the feeling of drawing air into her lungs and letting it out slowly.

A soft head butted against her thigh, Melog mewling at her questioningly.

“I’m okay,” Catra assured, patting between their ears before turning to take a seat in one of the deck chairs facing out into the woods, still trying to shake the oppressive unease that had chased her outside.

It wasn’t long after that she heard the glass doors slide open again, and looked up from her conversation with Melog with a halfhearted smile, already anticipating Adora stepping out of the house. She had a folded blanket draped over her arm, her hair fluffed up on one side from her pillow.

“Hey, are you alright?” She asked quietly.

“Yeah, just a nightmare, sorry I woke you,” Catra said.

Adora shook her head dismissively, opening the blanket and draping it around Catras shoulders before sitting half in Catras lap as the chair was only really made for one, and closing the blanket around them both to encase them in warmth.

“I thought I was supposed to be the one having pregnancy dreams,” She joked lightly.

Catra smirked mischievously. “Didn’t you have that one about Octavia and snakes the other night?”

Adora lightly shoved her shoulder. “Don’t remind me,” She grumbled. Then settled back into Catras side, feeling for her hand under the cover until she found it. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Catra sighed, studying the row of wilted or bloomless “starter flowers'' in their tiny garden as she gathered her thoughts. Adora waited patiently, her thumb passing back and forth over Catras knuckles.

“I don’t wanna hurt our kid,” Catra finally said.

“I know you don’t,” Adora said, her eyebrows furrowing.

“But what if that’s not enough? Not wanting to? _‘Choosing,’_ like Scorpia said?” Catra insisted. “I have all these _issues_ , what if- what if I’m not... _maternal_ , or whatever, and they think I hate them? Or- or I get mad and lose it on them? Or I _freak out_ during a flashback and-” Catras free hand drifted to her neck, her fingers covering the raised round scar there.

She gasped for breath, her voice trembling and words running together in her frantic worrying. “And I _know_ that I’m not the same person I was when we were nineteen but... I hurt a lot of people, I don’t want our child to be another one! And- and what about when they find out about all the shit I did? They’ll think I’m some kind of- _monster_! They’ll-”

Adora reached up and turned Catras face towards hers, effectively stopping her panic and forcing her to meet her eyes that were set with determination. “We’ll use it,” She said evenly. “To tell them that people can mess up and still change for the better, that they’re still worthy of love. And I think that that’s an _amazing_ thing to teach our baby.”

Catras eyes watered. She opened her mouth to protest, but Adora wasn’t done.

“And _you_ are the most affectionate person I’ve _ever_ known, you are going to smother our baby so much they will never doubt that you love them,” She pushed forward. “And you haven’t lost your temper in years, I think you’re better at controlling your anger then I am.

“And you’re not doing this alone, remember?” She said softly, pressing her forehead to Catras. Catra allowed her eyes to slip closed, inhaling Adoras scent and letting it calm her as much as her words. “I’m gonna be here, like… like in training, when I’d cover your openings and you’d cover mine. We’re a team.”

Catra snorted, still not opening her eyes but a shaky smile tugging at her lips. “Did you really just compare parenting to combat training?”

“I mean, sometimes the training looks easier,” Adora muttered, and Catra could hear the smile in her voice as well. “ _Especially_ with Lumina.”

“I bet our kid can give her a run for her money,” Catra said, finally opening her eyes only to close them again as she leaned in to kiss her wife, a silent expression of gratitude for this and all the other times she was the voice of reason, her biggest supporter, there to remind Catra that she was forgiven and loved when she forgot. 

She rested her head on Adoras shoulder, her nose pressed into the crook of her neck as Adoras arms looped around her back. With her sensitive ears Catra listened to the sounds of tiny creatures running through the forest underbrush and the chirping bugs in the trees. “Hey Adora?” She all but whispered after a long moment of quiet between them.

“Mhm?”

Catra gulped, almost regretting saying anything, embarrassed to ask, to voice her needs so openly, but… “Can you tell me I’m not like Shadow Weaver?”

Adora pulled back, capturing Catras face in her hands and locked her in her gaze. “You are _nothing_ like Shadow Weaver,” She said, her tone so unwaveringly sure that Catra had no doubt she meant it. “Do you think Shadow Weaver ever worried about hurting anyone?”

Catra let that reasoning sink in. “No,” She said, then snorted. “She lived for it. It was like, on her daily checklist.”

Adora grinned. “‘ _Hmm, haven’t made a kid cry today_ ,’” She joked in a poor imitation of Shadow Weavers voice, pretending to hold a notepad in her hand.

“' _Gotta do better tomorrow_ ,’” Catra joined in in the same tone.

Catra felt the rest of the tension finally leave her body as they laughed, and in its place a flood of fatigue filled her. She was ready to go back to bed, to curl up next to Adora and stay there until long after the morning moon rose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you didn't see it, I posted a oneshot set between the first chapter and this one that didn't fit in with the rest of the fic. So if you wanna know how Catra and Adora got pregnant with some hurt/comfort check it out


	3. Chapter 3

Adoras belly grew both unbelievably fast and painfully slow, as terrifying as it was thrilling. In just a handful of weeks it went from flat to a gentle curve that was barely noticeable through a loose shirt, to a definite bump that announced to everyone who saw - she was having a baby.

And said baby still didn’t have a name.

“Melendy?” Adora suggested, turning her head to look at Catra over her shoulder, who laid with her chest against Adoras back on the couch, an arm lazily thrown over her middle.

Her and Catra had poured over names, rolled them off their tongues to see how they felt in their mouth, read naming books given to them by Bows dads, experimented with a’s and ra’s and variations of pronunciation.

Catra didn’t even react to Adoras name before offering her own. “Dagger.”

Adora huffed. “We’re not naming our kid a weapon,” She sighed for what felt like the twentieth time.

“Why not?!” Catra cried, also for the twentieth time. “Dagger is a _cool name_!”

Adora locked Catra in a stare. “Felina,” She countered, raising her eyebrows in challenge and attempting to hold back her grin.

Catra bristled just as expected, her tail thumping against the couch cushion and her voice shrill as she shot back, “How about Dumb-Face-Ra after their mothe-”

From inside Adoras stomach came a soft flutter, maybe a foot against her side, a hand, or an elbow trying to make more room in what she imagined was a very tiny space. 

She had been feeling the movements for a few weeks - the moment she had felt the first, a bright morning at the coffee table while she worked on an in progress map, forever ingrained in her mind. The kicks had been so light they hadn’t been able to be felt from the outside.

But now, Catras eyes went wide as Adora watched, her hand freezing where it had been resting against Adoras belly.

“Did you feel that?” Adora asked in a hush, as if saying it too loud would scare the baby from doing it again.

Catra nodded silently, staring unseeingly ahead as she waited and Adora stayed still in hopes as well.

There came another kick.

Catras eyes welled up, a nearly inaudible exhale escaping her lips as she felt it. Adora could _see_ her experiencing the same wonder she had felt at every small nudge since the first, the realization that her round belly wasn’t just weight gain, that their baby was real and alive and not just a hypothetical.

She brought a hand to Catras cheek, sitting up just enough to press a kiss to her temple, lingering with her nose brushing against the skin there. 

Adora smiled, though she was too close for Catra to see it, an idea coming to mind. “You should say something to them,” She said. “Remember, they can hear us?”

Catra pulled back, unsure and nervous as her gaze darted over Adoras face, her ears pricked back just a fraction. Then she wordlessly climbed over Adora, Adora herself rolling onto her back, propped up against the armrest and pillows, and spreading her legs to make room for Catra to rest between them.

She crouched there, legs folded under her and elbows tucked in as she gently brought her hands to rest on either side of Adoras stomach. She glanced at her again, visibly gulping, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

“Uh, h-hey, baby,” She fumbled awkwardly. “It’s Catra- or, uh, mom? Mommy? I don’t- don’t know what you’ll… call me, yet. But, uh, I’m here… Hi.”

She paused, waiting, the tip of her tail swishing anxiously. Several moments passed without a movement. Adora knew, and knew Catra did too, that it was unrealistic to expect the baby to respond, that their kicks were random and getting one when you wanted wasn’t likely and wasn’t a judgement.

But Adora silently pleaded with her bump anyway, as Catras face fell with disappointment and she started to pull away.

And then there it was - a solid _thump_ right next to Catras hand.

Just as fast as Catras face had filled with disappointment it lit up with joy. She beamed, and leaned back in with a newfound eagerness. “We’re thinking of names for you,” She said. “Your mom's a _nerd_ and won’t let me give you a _cool_ name.”

“Catra!” Adora protested folding her arms over her chest with faux annoyance.

“Tell her you like Dagger,” Catra urged to Adoras stomach. “Or Baton. Isn’t Baton a _way_ better name then Melendy?”

Another push against Adoras insides and Catra gave a barking laugh. “See, they like it!”

Adora placed her hand next to Catras. “ _Whatever_ your name will be,” She said, shooting Catra a pointed glare. “We’re very excited to meet you, baby. We… we love you.”

Catra smiled softly. “We do,” She agreed. Then leaned in to whisper conspiratory as if she wasn’t _literally_ talking to Adoras stomach, “Don’t worry, I won’t let her give you a nerd name.” 

Adora used her position with her legs either side of Catra to playfully kick her hip, only for Catra to smirk, and shift to pounce.

“Whoa whoa whoa, I’m _pregnant_ , you can’t-”

Her protests ignored, Catra leapt, careful of Adoras stomach as she tackled her into the sofa and the tussle was on, though much gentler than usual. Laughter filled the living room until their sides hurt, and Adora liked to imagine that the occasional kicks inside her were their baby practicing joining in the play, and in a few years Adora would be defending herself from two cats that were out to get her.

* * *

Catra had come home to a lot of weird stuff while living with Adora, including a herd of peacock deer that had decided She-Ras yard was the ideal place to stop for a rest, many disastrous attempts at cooking, Adora hanging upside down from the rafters of their living room after trying to fix their lighting herself.

So really, coming in the door with her hands full of grocery bags (one filled entirely with egg cartons to satisfy her wifes current craving) to find Adora at the dining room table surrounded by books and scattered papers wasn’t _that_ odd in comparison.

Still odd though.

“What's all this?” Catra asked as she quickly passed through the dining room to set the groceries in the kitchen before returning.

In her seat, Adora straightened with pride, her ever-growing belly peeking out from under the table. “I’m making flash cards of all the most common childhood illnesses and ailments,” She explained with a bright smile.

Catra slowly nodded, eyebrows raised, as she processed that information. “You’re crazy, but okay,” She said, stepping up to the table. “Lets see.”

Adora held up a finger to indicate to her to hold on, and picked up her pen to finish the card in front of her, leaning over to one of the thick books at her side to read from before writing.

Adora had always been the ‘study everything she could get her hands on type.’ As much as Catra teased her about it, she ultimately found her thirst for knowledge endearing. Maybe if it was anyone else she wouldn’t have, but it was Adora and everything she did just made Catra love her more. Not that she would ever let Adora know that.

Their whole lives she had been the only cadet in their squad to read every class textbook front to back rather than just the assigned pages, to pour over manuals and maps and actually seek out further information after a lesson. When they went on their mission to restore the universe she had read the files the Star Siblings sent their group a dozen times in preparation of each planetary stop. When they got married Adora had been the one to research every single option for the wedding, even if they already knew they weren’t going to use it.

And when they decided to get pregnant, and even more so after she _got_ pregnant, Adora took out every book on pregnancy and parenting from the Brightmoon library, and was steadily working her way through them.

Catra had skimmed a few of them, got the gist, maybe read the parts she was more interested in, and called it a day.

“Okay!” Adora announced, grabbing up the couple _dozen_ flash cards that were littered around the table, stacking them, and held them out to Catra. She folded her hands on the table in front of her, sitting straight backed and ready. “Quiz me.”

“I’m having flashbacks to Horde occupied geography class,” Catra grumbled.

Adora pouted with an unamused glare.

Catra lifted the first queue card. “Ruby fever,” She read.

“Symptoms,” Adora began. “Red rash, flushed face, fever, sore throat, headache, vomiting.” Catra read down the list Adora had written, giving a confirmatory nod with each answer. “Treatment, antibiotics.”

She had listed that off so quick and easily Catra began to suspect Adora had been at this all day while Catra had been in a meeting with Glimmer and then went to the market. She eyed the empty mug at Adoras elbow, wondering when the last time she ate or drank anything was. She knew Adora to often get so hyper focused on projects she forgot about her own needs.

Catra refocused her attention back on the thick stack of cards in her hands, Adora waiting eagerly for her to read another. She flipped to the next one. _Common whispering cough_. She flipped again. _Complicated whispering cough_. Flip.

_Concussion_

_Meadow flu_

_Sepsis_

“Blue wor- Adora, when do you think our child is going to get blue worm disease?” Catra cried, letting her hand holding the cards drop to her side. “Don’t blue worms only live in _ponds_? How many ponds do you think they’re going to be swimming in?”

“It’s better to be prepared then not,” Adora answered firmly, but this time Catra saw it in her eyes: anxiety.

Catra rounded the table to sit in her usual chair. Adora watched her suspiciously, already knowing what was coming. “Babe, don’t you think this is a little much?” Catra asked as gently yet matter-of-factly as she could.

“No!” Adora argued, her hand unconsciously going to her stomach as if shielding it. “It’ll be good for us to know these things, so that we’ll know what to do when our child is sick!”

“It’s not like we can’t take them to a healer,” Catra reminded her. “And She-Ra _literally_ has healing powers if something is seriously wrong, right?”

Adora looked at her like she had said two plus two equals ten, like she couldn’t believe Catra wasn’t _getting_ it. “So _what_ if I can heal them if they’ll still have been sick, or injured, or- or almost died of pneumonia, or blood loss, or because I fed them _peanut butter_ and they had a _peanut_ allergy!” She stressed, hands gesticulating wildly. “Because I wasn’t careful enough, or prepared enough, and-”

“And you’ll have failed them, and they’ll blame you for the rest of their life?” Catra finished for her, her tone almost bored as she propped her chin up in her hand. She had heard this exact train of thought before, knew it was one Adora fell into time and time again.

Adora looked at her with wide eyes at having her worries pulled right from her mouth, and how ridiculous they sounded when said by someone else. She sighed, sagging forward in defeat to rest her forehead on her arms. Catra heard her add in a stubborn mutter, “And you’ll hate me and leave.”

Catra gave a laugh. “That’s a pretty big jump from a common chest infection,” She said. She got up, stepping around the corner of the table to take the seat next to Adora. Her wife lifted her head, and Catra was quick to slide her hand across the wood to take hers. “You know our kids gonna get sick, or hurt, sooner or later, right?”

Adoras face twisted, her hand clenching just slightly around Catras. “I know.”

“It’s like, part of growing up,” Catra reminded her. “Remember how much we got ourselves hurt in the Fright Zone? I’m pretty sure it was at least twice a day until we were thirteen.” 

With a rueful smirk, Adora nodded.

Catra forged ahead, squeezing her hand. “And when it happens, it’s not going to be _your_ fault, or _my_ fault, or _their_ fault - unless they do something stupid like climb up on the roof and fall off.”

“Don’t _we_ climb up on the roof?” Adora interjected.

“Yeah, but we don’t fall off,” Catra retorted before she continued. “They’re not going to blame you because they get sick, and I certainly won’t. And you can’t take the blame for it either, just like how you can’t take the blame for me getting into trouble when we were kids, or because Horde Prime tried to destroy the planet, or because you couldn’t protect every single person on Etheria.”

Adora looked down. 

“I know you feel responsible for not being able to stop every bad thing from happening, but it’s not your job, and it’s not even possible,” Catra said softly, leaning in to catch Adoras eye. “Even when it’s our kid.”

Adoras eyes shone wettly. “But w-what kind of mother am I if-if I let them get hurt?”

“You’re not _letting them_ , it’s just something that happens,” Catra rolled her eyes without any real annoyance. “You know what I think shows what kind of mother you are?” She waited for Adora to look at her to go on. “What you do when they _are_ sick or hurt.

“Our baby is never going to have to hide in a supply closet when they’re sick,” Catra said fiercely. “And we’re going to put bandages on their scrapes when they fall - those ones that Glimmer has for Lumina, the colorful ones. And we’ll feed them soup, or toast, or whatever, when their stomach hurts, and they’ll be able to tell us they don’t feel good and- and we’ll hug them, and we won’t make them feel bad for it.”

Catras voice broke at the sudden onslaught of emotion, at the idea of giving their baby the things they never had in childhood, things that now seemed so depraved to have denied them.

Adora was crying fully now, but she didn’t look sad. Instead she smiled. “Yeah, we will,” She agreed.

“And that’s what matters,” Catra summed up tearfully.

With shaking fingers, Adora reached up to wipe under Catras eye, and Catra did the same for her, and when their eyes met Adora gave a wet laugh. “When did we get so sappy?” 

“Excuse me, _you’ve_ always been a sap,” Catra said. “I only got this way after I started hanging out with you and your princess friends, it’s like a virus.”

“Because you just stopped me from spending the rest of the night making a chart of illnesses ranked by seriousness, and I love you, I won’t say anything. Except,” Adora paused with a wicked gleam in her eye. “Armory store room.”

Catra playfully shoved her away by the shoulder, feeling her cheeks heat up. “I- you- that wasn’t- not fair!”

Adora snorted with laughter, which was exactly the reaction Catra was hoping for. As her gaze fell to the mess that was all her research on the table, and specifically the stack of queue cards, she sighed. “I guess we don’t need all these flashcards…”

Catra felt her tail flicking behind her as she chewed on the inside of her cheek, internally lamenting about the sacrifices she would make for Adora, before saying, “Maybe it wasn’t a _totally_ terrible idea. Knowing _some_ of this stuff might be useful. As long as we don’t go overboard.”

Adoras fact brightened. “So I can quiz you while you make dinner?”

But Catra still had her limits. “No. I am not thinking about puss and blue worms while we eat.”

She got up, making a beeline for the kitchen even as she heard Adora following after her. “I’ll leave out the gross ones!”

“If you want your dumb scrambled eggs you _will_ leave those cards on the table,” Catra warned without even needing to look to know Adora was holding the flashcards.

“Aww, but Catra!” Adora whined, likely making that big-eyed, pleading face. Not that Catra was going to turn around to find out.

And maybe in the end Catra agreed to a _few cards_ , and then maybe a few more, and maybe her and Adora spent the evening laughing about gross diseases (“Symptoms, pale complexion, weakness” “I think Kyle had this”). It was just another one of those things she would do for Adora.


	4. Chapter 4

Catras earliest memories were all tinged with murky green, lit by flickering harsh lighting, filled with the bite of cold metal against her bare feet. The smell of smog and stale air permeated both the good and the bad times, the sound of clunking pipes and whirring machinery constantly in her sensitive ears.

At one point, that had felt like home. She had even struggled to adjust to the difference when she first came to live in Brightmoon, all the plush, soft surfaces and pastel colors the exact opposite of everything she was used to.

But her and Adoras baby would never have to adjust to basic comfort.

“I think that goes that way,” Adora said.

Catra grit her teeth. “I’ve got it,” She insisted, continuing to try to force the bar into the designated slot.

Her and Adoras baby was going to have a beautiful nursery, even if their mothers killed each other in the process.

“You’re going to break it!”

“Would you just focus on the change table?” Catra snapped, head whipping over her shoulder to fix Adora in a stern glare, except, her gaze was drawn downward. “Uh, what is that? The drawers are upside down!”

“They are not?!” Adora protested. “I think I know what way drawers go.”

Catra pushed herself to her feet, leaving the crib bar she had been attempting to screw into place to roll away. “ _Clearly_ you don’t because they’re the wrong way.”

“They wouldn’t even have gone in if they were the wrong way, Catra, please,” Adora rolled her eyes, taking a step back to let Catra inspect her work. As she did she placed her hands on her lower back, stretching with a wince after having been bent for so long with the added discomfort of her now third-trimester belly.

“Look, why don’t you go sit down and I’ll finish this?” Catra offered.

“Ohho, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Adora gave a sarcastic laugh. “No, I’m staying right here so you can tell me you were wrong when you realize I did it right.”

“Well now I’m thinking you should leave to save yourself the embarrassment,” Catra smirked.

“Not gonna happen. Go on, pull a drawer out,” Adora challenged.

So Catra did. And they were the right side up.

But the tracks immediately fell off without the drawer to hold them in place.

They looked at each other for a beat of silence, before bursting into peels of laughter.

Together they fixed the change table, and then moved on to the half-constructed crib Catra had been working on, pushed them into place around the spare room-turned-nursery. There was more to do, end tables and a bookcase and shelves, but for now they stepped back to admire their work.

The nursery walls were a buttery yellow, the afternoon light coming in the large window setting the color aglow. They had laid out a handful of small, overlapping rugs under their feet to cover the wooden floor that would be soft for their baby to crawl on. There was a rocking chair in one corner, a thick quilt folded over its back, for Catra and Adora to sit in while they soothed the baby to sleep.

Piled in a wicker basket there were already a dozen stuffed animals for their baby to hold for comfort or play, gifted to them by friends or bought by themselves from various markets around Etheria when the cuteness of the toys overwhelmed them.

And over the now finished crib, a baby mobile hung from the ceiling. They had found it in Mystacor, on the very trip where they conceived. It had felt ridiculously early to be buying nursery things, but the mobile had filled them both with so much wonder they had sworn it was infused with magic even after the seller told them it wasn’t. From it’s strings hung yellow and white crystalline butterflies, and red birds that seemed caught in mid-flight. It was a summer day captured in a slowly turning ring to put their little one to sleep.

“I think we should go into interior design,” Adora joked tiredly, leaning into Catras' side.

“You can’t even put drawers in,” Catra scoffed.

“So it would take some practice.”

“Practice won’t change the fact that you liked that red and orange flower wallpaper for the living room,” Catra reminded, gently bumping her hip.

Adora looked offended. “They’re warm colors!”

When Catra and Adora had first moved into their own place, they had created an environment that was right for them. It wasn’t the cold, metallic familiarity of their childhood, or the over the top extravagance of Brightmoon. Their tiny cottage in the Whispering Woods was all earthy tones and furniture with the perfect firmness and personal belongings and pictures of friends. It was cozy, and it was _theirs_.

It was a home, more than anywhere else had ever been to them. And it would be a home for their child, one full of light and love and safety, because they had made, and would continue to make it that way.

* * *

It wasn’t very often anymore that Adora and Catra saw all their friends together. With the war on Etheria and the subsequent peace negotiations long over, the lands and kingdoms rebuilt and rehabilitated, and everyone having their own busy adult lives, the days of big group gatherings had been limited.

Luckily, there were a handful of events that still managed to get everyone to turn out: Princess Prom, weddings, and babies.

“Adora, you’re practically glowing,” Spinerella said as she leaned in for a hug that was just slightly awkward with Adoras giant stomach in the way.

Adora felt her eyebrows drawing together with her confusion at the comment. “But I haven’t been She-Ra in eight months so I don’t think I…?”

At her wifes side Netossa passed a hand over her eyes, sighing. “She means because you’re pregnant. Pregnant people glow.”

“Actually,” Entrapta interjected as she entered the room with Hordak and Wrong Hordak at her side, both carrying brightly wrapped gifts. “What people call the ‘pregnancy glow’ is just the result of a pregnant person's body producing more estrogen, which promotes hair follicle growth and causes the skin glands to secrete more oil, creating a somewhat shiny appearance. And you definitely have it, Adora!”

Next to Adora, Catra snickered.

“Oh, uh, okay. Thanks then?” Adora tried for a smile.

Soon, the alliance room turned baby shower room was packed with what seemed like everyone Adora and Catra ever knew. They should have expected when Glimmer and Bow recruited Scorpias assistance that there wouldn’t be a single person left out and that no one would be able to reject her personal invite.

“I still can’t believe Kitten is having her _own_ little kitten,” Double Trouble mused, sitting across from Catra and Adora in one of the sofas that had been dragged in. 

“ _I_ still can’t believe they made _you_ godparent,” Mermista grumbled, leaning against the snacks table with a plate in her hand.

“Catra and Adora know a good thing when they see it,” Double Trouble said breezily.

“A-Adora,” Kyle's voice came from behind them as he rounded the couch. “Can I feel your belly?”

Catra snorted. “Why are you even asking, everyone else just grabbed her.”

“I know right, and I thought people liked touching She-Ras arms,” Adora chuckled. She waved Kyle forward. “Yeah, c’mere. You’re in luck, it feels like they just woke up.”

Kyle knelt down in front of her, hesitantly putting his hands on her stomach.

As the three waited for a kick, Frosta asked, “Have you picked a name yet?” 

“We both like Finn,” Adora answered, looking to Catra.

“But we’re waiting for them to be born to see if it fits,” Catra finished for her. 

Lumina teleported from Bows lap to reappear in a burst of sparkles in the small space on the sofa between Adora and Catra, her short pink and purple curls bouncing as she settled and looked up at Adora with her eyes huge. “Aun’ Ado’a, will baby come play?”

Adora ruffled her hair, eliciting a giggle from the toddler. “Of course,” She said softly. “You two will be best friends I bet.”

“You know, when they’re able to do anything except eat, sleep, and cry,” Catra laughed.

“Why they going to sleep?” Lumina asked.

Scooping Lumina up as he passed, Micah tapped her on the nose. “Because babies need lots of sleep,” He explained to her. “It’s how they grow big and strong like you.”

Still kneeling on the floor, Kyle gasped as the baby finally nudged against Adoras belly, much harder now then in the beginning, a good sign as it meant they were growing stronger and bigger, but Adoras internal organs were taking a beating.

“There’s a real baby in there,” He said in wonder.

“Seriously Kyle?” Lonnie berated nearby. “You’re _just_ figuring that out?”

Scorpia pushed her way through the circle of friends to the center of the room, carrying a armload of gifts from the stack on the table in the corner, apparently finally giving in after having been barely able to sit still for most of the party in anticipation. “I think it’s present time!”

So they opened presents, revealing everything ranging from good, useful, perfectly normal gifts - onesies from Castaspella and a set of pacifiers from Bow - to a little weird - a handful of metal teething rings from Lonnie, Rogelio, and Kyle because “Catra, you used to chew on metal scraps when we were kids, remember?” - to outright horrifying, like the spindly baby-feeding robot Entrapta made for them that they thanked her for but agreed with a look between the two of them that they would never use.

And with the presents out of the way everyone went back to eating and drinking and laughing, multiple enthusiastic discussions being had around the room at once, laughter ringing out from every side, and smiles on every face.

Adora looked around at her friends, a hand coming to rest on her stomach.

These were the people her baby would grow up surrounded by.

Finn, or whatever their name would be, was going to come into the world already so loved. They would go to sleep every night under the embroidered yellow blanket Glimmer gave them, in the soft glow of the crystal from a distant planet that Hordak had thought could act as a night light, holding on to the lizard plushie Double Trouble brought. 

She couldn’t have asked for a better family to bring her child into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, so there might be a bit of a delay on the next chapter, I'm working on it but it's slow going. It is coming though and I'm doing my best to make it the perfect ending I can picture in my mind!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _You are beautiful like your mother  
>  You are grace, you are light  
> A better version of our past  
> From the start of life  
> We were changed in an instant  
> We became so much more  
> Our definition of perfect was written when you were born_  
> -Life, Sleeping at Last

“I think it’s time.”

Her head in Catras lap, Adora looked up at her, a certainty in her wide blue eyes.

Catras heart stopped in her chest, and then picked up double time. She swallowed hard to clear her throat, but her voice still shook as she confirmed, “Yeah?”

Adora nodded. “Yeah.”

She had been having contractions since the night before, light and inconsistent and nothing to get worked up over. But she had begun to time them, and if she was saying it was time then...

“We’re having a baby,” Catra breathed.

Adora pushed herself up, giving a chuckle. Melog mewed at being disturbed from their spot across her chest. “We’re having a baby.”

For a moment they simply looked at each other, gazes locked and silent. Words weren’t needed for them to understand the dizzying combination of anticipation and anxiety and joy they were both feeling all rolled together in a pause.

Then Catra took a breath deep enough to make her shoulders rise and fall and steadied her for the time being. “I’ll call Glimmer.”

“I’ll get the room ready,” Adora said.

Trained to be a team that worked together seamlessly and a lifetime of anticipating each other meant they fell into step easily. While Adora grabbed the extra throw sheets and old blankets from the linen closet Catra went to the kitchen with their data pad, grabbing an arm full of empty water bottles as she waited for Glimmer to pick up.

“Hey, what’s up?” Glimmer's voice finally came through the speakers. Catra glanced over to see her sitting at her office desk in Brightmoon, a pen held in one hand and a stack of papers to one side.

“Adora's in labor,” Catra took a breath, realizing her hands were shaking as she went to the sink and turned the tap on. Suddenly it hit her that her heart was pounding and her stomach was in a knot and her mind that had been on auto-pilot before was now racing. “I’m freaking out.”

Glimmer abruptly threw the pen down, papers getting knocked by her elbow as she pulled her data pad closer. “O-okay, I have to- to give Lumina to my dad, and get Bow, and the midwife, and then-” She stopped in her own panic as she watched Catra filling bottle after bottle, and sticking them in the freezer. “What are you doing?”

“Adora likes her water really cold,” Catra said, not looking up as she held another under the tap. “And- and labor looks hot? I don’t know!”

“With all that water I’d think you’re preparing for a week in the Crimson Waste,” Glimmer giggled. When she got no response her tone turned soft. “Hey, it’s going to be okay. Adora's going to be okay.”

“You sure didn’t sound okay when you were _screaming_ ,” Catra rebutted, her voice several octaves higher than usual.

“You push a seven pound baby out of you and see how quiet you are!” Glimmer cried.

Catra gave a shaky laugh, threading her fingers through her hair. “Well I _would,_ but Adora is, unfortunately, going to be the one doing the pushing and I’m just here- with a freezer full of water.”

Glimmer smiled sympathetically. “Look, everyone is scared at the start of labor, but by the time your baby is here you’ll have forgotten everything you were worried about. Now, go calm Adora down because if you’re freaking out she’s freaking out double. I have to go get everyone. Be there in half an hour.”

The call cut and Catra wandered to the bedroom to find Adora spreading the protective cover over the bed, a pile of pillows and blankets at her feet to be added.

“Hey Adora,” Catra greeted, grabbing an end of the sheet to help her tuck it in. Adora shot her a grateful smile. “How are you doing?”

“Okay,” Adora answered dismissively, refusing to meet her eye. “Do you think this is enough sheets? I don’t want to ruin the mattress.”

“Okay so you’re seconds away from a breakdown, got it,” Catra said sarcastically, rounding the bed and pulling Adoras hands away from obsessively straightening the sheets. When she finally looked Catra in the eye, Adora drooped, leaning into her chest.

“This is really happening,” She muttered against Catras shoulder. “We’re going to have a baby in… a few _hours_.”

Catra wrapped her arms around her back, fingers absentmindedly reaching up to comb through Adora's hair. “Not necessarily, maybe you’ll have one of those labors that go on for days,” She joked.

“Reassuring,” Adora deadpanned, but Catra could hear the smile in her voice.

“Hey, whatever happens, we’ve got this,” Catra said. “You and I are good under pressure.”

“Are we?” Adora snorted. “I think we’re mostly good at flying by the seat of our pants and hoping everything works out somehow.”

“And it always has, hasn’t it?”

Adora squeezed her tighter. “Yeah, I guess it has.”

Together they finished fitting the bed with old sheets and many pillows, pulled the supplies the midwife had told them to gather from the bathroom cupboards, messaged all their friends to let them know what was going on, and then did some oxytocin-boosting cuddling (okay, maybe that wasn’t the _only_ reason for the cuddling), and by the time Glimmer teleported into their living room with Bow and their midwife in tow a calm resolve had settled over the two, ready for what was to come next.

“Thanks for being here, guys,” Adora said as she hugged Bow in greeting.

“Of _course_ we’re here,” Glimmer said, squeezing her shoulder. “You think we’d miss this?”

“It’s The Best Friend Squad embarking on a new adventure!” Bow said cheerily.

“You know, in a few years our kids are going to hate when you call us that,” Catra said, leaning against the back of the couch and folding her arms. “And I’m with them.”

The midwife checked Adora's progress, and from there there was nothing to do but wait. Outside the windows the sky faded to navy blue and the stars peaked out to be seen between the branches of the Whispering Woods. Adora paced, tried to sit for a while but ultimately was unable to stay still that long, and paced some more.

Eventually she ended up wandering to the nursery, Catra trailing behind her to watch as she began fussing over the row of toys on the dresser, and straightened the bedding in the crib.

“You know, the kids not going to be sleeping in here tonight, or like, for a couple nights at _least_ , right?” Catra said flatly.

“I just feel… restless,” Adora admitted. “Maybe it’s like, nesting? Like the books said, and getting the nurs-.”

It was almost imperceptible, and wouldn’t have been noticeable to someone that didn’t know Adora as well as Catra did, but she saw her fingers tighten around the edge of the crib, and heard how her breath hitched in her throat even as she kept talking.

Catra was across the room in two strides, a hand on Adoras back. “Are they getting stronger?” She asked.

Adora let out an exhale, bending over the crib. “Yeah,” She hissed, bowing her head to rest on her forearm. Catra ran her hand up and down her back, wishing there was more she could do, but a moment later Adora straightened, her face just slightly flushed. “I’m good, I’m okay.”

The night wore on and the contractions continued to get more intense, and the time between them shorter until it seemed like one would end only for another to start, and the whole group moved to the bedroom in preparation. Still, even as her forehead grew sweaty and she seemed to be in pain more often than not, Adora handled it all with a quiet focus.

Kneeling on the bed over a pile of pillows in a position the midwife had suggested Adora groaned softly as another contraction passed.

Catra hugged her from behind, where she had been sitting holding Adoras hips. “Doing okay?”

Adora shot a bleary-eyed look over her shoulder and a weak smile. “No harder than,” She panted,” All the times I saved the world.”

Catra grinned back, reaching over to brush a piece of hair from her damp cheek. “I knew you wouldn’t be as loud as Sparkles.”

“I’m not as dramatic as Glimmer,” Adora smirked.

From the chair across the room came Glimmer's cry of, “Hey!”

But the brief reprieve passed as Adora ducked her head again to press her face into the pillows. Catra could feel her struggling not to tense up, to keep her body loose and open, and leaned forward to rest her chin on her shoulder. “You’re amazing, you’re doing so good,” She continued to praise until Adora relaxed again as it subsided.

In the early hours of the morning it was finally time to push. With the midwife in position, Adora propped up against Catras chest, and Glimmer and Bow on either side, came the beginning of the end of what had been a years-long journey.

When they had made the decision to get pregnant Adora had insisted she be the one to carry, despite Catra’s equal willingness. Catra had worried about Adoras reasons, worried it was her self sacrificial tendencies rising up again. And when she brought it up, Adora hadn’t denied that was part of her motivation, but rather explained:

_“I used to think that I had to give myself to save everyone, but this way I can give myself to_ create _someone. It’s different, it’s... a good kind of sacrifice.”_

And as Adora gave a cry of exertion, and from below came a flurry of activity, Catra laid eyes on their baby for the first time, and she knew Adora had been right. They were covered in guck, their face scrunched up as they gave a high-pitched wail, the little wisp of brown hair on their head matted, and they were perfect.

Adora reached for them immediately, instinctually, pulling them to her chest and cradling them there. Catra curled around her side.

“You’re here,” Adora whispered against the top of the baby's head, tears falling freely and her face full of joy despite the clear exhaustion. “Oh, you have your mom's hair.”

Catra would have pointed out that that wasn’t the most defining feature of hers they had inherited, with their pointed ears pinned back against their head, the light fuzz of fur on their cheeks, and the tail that curled against Adora’s arm, but she couldn’t find her voice, overwhelmed as she was by taking in the being that they had created.

That is, until Adora gently passed them to her, and the moment they settled into Catra’s arms, so small and light and still mewling unhappily, and the words burst forth, “I love you,” She sobbed, a finger lightly brushing over their cheek. “I _love you_.”

She hadn’t known how you could love someone you had never met until that moment, but she loved them with every fiber of her being, every part of her filled with it and alight with it, and a newfound certainty, a certainty that she could never hurt them, intentionally or not, certainty that she would have walked through Primes ship or Shadow Weavers chambers all over again for them, and a certainty that every moment that had brought her to them was worth it.

“We made this,” Adora breathed, her eyes never left the baby.

Catra pressed her forehead to Adoras, the bundle in her arms snuggled between both their moms’ chests. “Best thing we ever did,” Catra agreed, closing her eyes.

Outside the sky was shifting from pink to yellow to blue with moonrise - a story they would tell Finn for the rest of their life, how they came into the world with the dawn, and the part they wouldn’t say - because it was too cheesy for Catra to put into words - how in doing so they changed Catra and Adora’s world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Definitely Adora at some point in this chapter: maybe I can turn into She-Ra to push the baby out!! She-Ra’s got a bigger pu-  
> The midwife: please don’t
> 
> Thank you everyone for reading, and for your patience while I took my sweet time with posting this chapter. I appreciate every kind comment and every kudos I've gotten <3

**Author's Note:**

> Come chat with me on my [tumblr](https://bookwormpride.tumblr.com/)


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